Archaeological evidence suggests there was an active Coast Salish fishing settlement on the shores of the Courtenay River Estuary for at least 4,000 years.

[3] Due to its gentle climate, fertile soil and abundant sea life, the Coast Salish residents called the area kw'umuxws (Li'kwala for plentiful), which was eventually anglicized to Komoux and then to Comox.

[3] The K'ómoks migrated south to the shores of the Courtenay River estuary, where they allied with the resident Pentlatch against their common enemy.

[5] In 1579, Francis Drake, on his circumnavigation of the globe in the Golden Hind, found a good port somewhere along the northwest coast of North America and stayed for several months while restocking supplies and trading with the inhabitants of the area.

[9] In 1791, a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores produced a crude chart of the Strait of Georgia and possibly visited Comox Bay.

Captain George Vancouver arrived the following year, tasked by the British government with charting the northwest coast of North America.

In 1857, Captain George Richards of HMS Plumper was tasked with undertaking a complete survey of the coastline of Vancouver Island, and was given authority to name local landmarks.

[3] That same year Governor Douglas issued a land and settlement proclamation for the Koumox Valley, intending to divert new settlers away from the Victoria area as well as from the newly discovered Cariboo gold fields.

However, it was not an ideal location, since the river regularly burst its banks due to king tides or spring run-off, flooding the entire village.

[13]: 10 In 1864, Robert Brown, leading the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition, discovered coal deposits in the Comox Valley, but these went unexploited for two decades.

[13]: 18 In 1888 Robert Dunsmuir established a mine in nearby Union, later renamed Cumberland, which brought an influx of settlers, and Chinese and Japanese immigrants.

They hired a surveyor, George Drabble, to survey and subdivide their land into town lots, which they quickly sold to businessmen and homeowners.

But in 1905, Joseph McPhee brought telephone service to his store, providing the isolated community with immediate contact to the outside world.

[15] A connecting road to Nanaimo and Victoria was finally built in 1910, and the E&N Railway arrived in 1914, bringing an end to the packet steamer era.

However, a majority of the alderman elected to council were allies of McPhee, and in December 1916, the new town purchased Courtenay Electric Light Heat and Power, making it a public utility.

There were only two reported deaths: one Seattle man died of a heart attack and another drowned when his boat capsized due to a resulting wave.

[19] The high precipitation levels can be attributed to both the oceanic climate and also its proximity to the Insular Mountain range which results in the rain shadow effect.

Courtenay has quite mild winters, maintaining the cool and damp characteristics, but temperatures can drop below freezing levels and snow may happen throughout the season due to Arctic air movements.

St. Joseph's General Hospital, Mount Washington home of the Critically Endangered Vancouver Island marmot,[29] Crown Isle Golf Course, Kingfisher Resort and Spa and the Best Western Westerly Hotel, and the Air Force base at Comox are in the top 15 employers in the Comox Valley, providing 1,200 jobs.

The Courtenay branch offers many services such as free Wi-Fi for library members, computer access, and printing and photocopying stations.

This access to the ancient sea bed has provided the opportunity for many great marine dinosaur discoveries, like the Elasmosaur and the Mosasaur.

The first major paleontological discovery in Courtenay occurred in 1988 when resident Mike Trask and his daughter discovered the first fossil of an 80-million-year-old Elasmosaur on the banks of the Puntledge River.

[43] In 1991, during a field trip, Dr. Joe Zanbilowicz discovered a fossilized bone along the Puntledge River and a few more vertebrae were excavated that day.

They named this new species of Mosasaur, Kourisodon Puntledgensis, for its unique two extra rows of razor-like teeth and its discovery location.

HAMM features the memorial to the men of HMCS Alberni and U-480, as well as exhibits from the Great War to the present day of the Canadian Forces.

The Courtenay and District Museum and Palaeontology Centre[46] offers fossil tours of local rivers and historical exhibits.

It explores the history of Port Augusta and a century of military presence on Goose Spit, and houses the archives from early settlers and the famous wharf in Comox where the 102nd Battalion headed off to World War I.

Situated on the Puntledge RV Campground, the site was the original home of the Pentlatch People, it is named for Chief Joe Nim-Nim.

Provincially, Ronna Leonard of the BC NDP is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Courtenay-Comox Riding electoral district.

[67] In November 2007 as part of a pilot program, the Comox Valley buses were equipped with free wireless Internet access for passengers.